Target Locked
by Tsubasa8
Summary: It was only supposed to develop her skills, but out of it came something more. TenSaku for Dustbunny3's challenge.


A/N: I don't follow the series very closely and as a result there may be some inconsistency in the story; so bear with me, aha…

Disclaimer: "Naruto" is property of Masashi Kishimoto, Studio Pierrot, Viz Media, etc.

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Target Locked

"Once more!"

"Hah!"

"Kyaaaah!"

Neji and Tenten looked sharply across the grounds when they heard the unexpected shriek. On all fours was Sakura, apparently having ducked to avoid being hit by ricocheting kunai.

"You…?" A little annoyed by her interruption, Neji retorted, "If you're looking for Lee he isn't here."

"I know…" Sakura struggled to her feet, dusting herself off nervously. Her gaze shifted between the two and she said, "I was actually looking for Tenten."

Neither Neji or Tenten were expecting that response. Surprised, they both exchanged bewildered looks.

For a moment Neji considered what to do before closing his eyes with a sigh. "Alright; we'll stop here for today, Tenten." With that the Hyuga boy took off to return to the village centre, leaving the two girls behind.

Immediately Tenten started picking up her tools while Sakura paced toward her. "So what do you need?"

"Your help," Sakura replied steadfastly. "I want you to help me train."

Tenten lifted her gaze to the other girl, slightly confused. "To train? Aren't you already doing that?" By now a good number of the villagers knew that Sakura was training under the new Hokage. Tenten even envied her a little for it.

"Yes, but what I'd like help with are my defenses; like what you were doing with Neji just now."

"I don't know… like you mentioned, I'm already busy training with Neji."

Undeterred, Sakura coaxed, "Please, Tenten? My training will be more effective if it's you I'm working with."

Tenten regarded her with an expression of uncertainty. Sakura reflected it with her own pleading airs, breaking down whatever reservations Tenten had. Exasperated, she replied, "Okay… I'll tell Neji about it to see if it doesn't interfere with our current regimen. I'll let you know once that's over with."

Despite the precondition Sakura's face brightened. "Thanks a lot, Tenten!"

To Tenten's mild surprise, Neji yielded to Sakura's wishes. His reasoning was that by now Sakura could make more use of her skills than he needed. This was admittedly true, since Neji could virtually block all of Tenten's current attacks.

So began Sakura's training. At first they refrained from full assaults, only gradually increasing the number of weapons Tenten threw as Sakura's skill sharpened. As the weeks passed Tenten watched over Sakura's improvement; impressed with the girl's newfound strength and determination. There was barely any hesitation as Sakura dodged and blocked, calling on Tenten to throw more. Once she bit off more than she could chew however, and ended up with a bloody gash across her upper arm.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Tenten rushed across the space between them to examine her wound.

"Ugh… yeah…" She watched Tenten pull out a roll of bandages and mentally lamented her own undeveloped ability to heal. She was working on it with Tsunade's guidance, but it still had to be perfected.

While Tenten wrapped her injury, Sakura's gaze drifted over her visage. Upon closer inspection, Sakura was suddenly struck by the way her bangs fell over her headband like someone very familiar to her; someone who was always in the recesses of her mind even though he had left the village quite a while ago. Slowly came his shape, his face, and his voice saying_, "You're annoying."_

Sakura's head drooped at the memory. "Thanks for helping me, Tenten," she murmured. "I know I can be a bother sometimes."

Tenten stared at her with some astonishment at the self-deprecating comment. She wondered what had made her say that. Then she decided it didn't matter. "You aren't a bother."

Her reply pulled Sakura out of her semi-reverie, and she looked up at Tenten with a mix of surprise and inquiry.

"You want to get better at being a shinobi, right? I don't see anything wrong with that." An encouraging smile spread across her face. "We'll show them that kunoichi can be just as good as male shinobi; maybe even better."

"… Um… yeah…" Heartening words were something Sakura rarely heard. Today, this rarity came from Tenten.

Over the next few days Sakura was beginning to pay closer attention not just to her training, but to the one she trained with. Her face, her voice, and everything else were all becoming intertwined with those of Saskue, and Sakura couldn't figure out why. She did know however that there were things she discovered about Tenten she liked, from they way her brow furrowed when she was concentrating, to her perseverance as a fellow kunoichi.

During one of their sessions, Sakura noticed Tenten was constantly pushing her slipping headband up with her thumb. The younger girl called for a break, Tenten continuing to fiddle with her headband.

"If it's bothering you then just take it off." Sakura stepped close and pulled it away herself.

"Ah, that is better…" Tenten swept the back of her hand across her cooling forehead in relief.

It was only a minor detail, but Sakura thought Tenten looked very different without her headband. It was in a way like which drew a bumbling bee to a blossomed flower. She placed the back of her own hand against Tenten's forehead. "… You're warm…"

Confused, Tenten blinked at her and voiced Sakura's name. It was all she could say before Sakura leant forward and kissed her.

There was barely a thought which registered in Tenten's mind. By the time she realized what was going on, Sakura had already pulled away. The grounds seemed very quiet in that moment; the only sound Tenten could hear was that of the blood rushing in her ears.

Sakura was watching her carefully to gauge her reaction. It was the fastest Sakura had ever seen a shinobi disappear.

As she dashed through the trees Tenten held her fingers pressed against her lips. She couldn't for the life of her understand why Sakura chose to do such a thing. Unless, it was simply that she – "Kyaaah!" Her foot snagged on a tree branch, sending her tumbling to the forest floor into a track of dirt. Tenten dragged herself up on her forearms and put a hand to her spinning head.

It was then that she realized that her headband was missing. Sakura still had it. Knowing she would need to retrieve it, Tenten pulled herself together and wearily doubled back to the training grounds. When she arrived Tenten found Sakura wistfully leaning against one of the wooden dummies.

The pink-haired girl tilted her face to look at her. "I thought you'd be back." She lifted the headband in her hand.

Tenten cautiously nodded and walked toward her. When she reached out for her headband however, Sakura jerked it back. "Tenten… about before…"

"Oh, don't worry about it." Though she knew it might have come to this when she saw Sakura again, there was part of her that wished they could just forget about it.

Sakura shook her head, hiding her hands behind her back so Tenten could no longer see her headband. "Before Sasuke left, I told him how I felt. It didn't stop him from going. There wasn't anything I could do." She met Tenten's steady gaze. "I don't want that to happen again."

Tenten scrupulously mulled over the words as she debated what would be the best reply. Finally, she responded, "Sakura, I'm not Sasuke; but when it comes to girls I don't –"

"I don't either." Sakura cut her off before she finished what she knew she would say. She pushed off the trunk to look squarely at Tenten and gripped the object in her hand. "It's only you."

Here was Sakura displaying those characteristics Tenten had witnessed over the course of their training together. It was showing through her posture, her voice, and those brilliant green eyes which before helped persuade her into agreeing to their sessions in the first place.

"Sakura… you can be pretty headstrong sometimes, you know?"

"I know." Sakura stepped forward and passed the headband back to Tenten. "You're not going to need to ask Neji or Lee for their consent, are you?" she joked kindly.

Tenten looked at her strangely as she fastened her headband. "Why would I?"

Sakura shrugged with a smile. "So do you want to do some sparring? There's still time left." With Tenten's okay Sakura's expression turned cunning. "Good." She brushed a hand against the other girl's forearm. "Because I think we need to work on your close combat."

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A/N: It didn't turn out exactly the way I'd originally planned it, but hey – you have to go with the flow of the story.


End file.
